College lecturer, David Jones is one of just seven education professionals from across the UK to be awarded a Technical Teaching Fellowship for 2024/25.
The prestigious award, made jointly by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, was presented to David, Pembrokeshire College Life Skills Academy Employment Coordinator, at an event in London on Friday 1 March.
For 2024/25, following a review of the impact of the Fellowships in previous years, the geographical eligibility for applications was extended from being England only to the whole of the UK, and the potential number of Fellowships increased. All Fellows now also become alumni of the Royal Commission, providing them with further support to drive quality improvement in technical STEM teaching and training and the opportunity to access further funding.
Applications are assessed against criteria including demonstrating highly effective approaches to improving teaching and learning in technical education, how the Fellowship will be used to inspire others, and the planning of professional development opportunities to impact on the pedagogy and professional practice of other teachers.
David’s Fellowship will focus on developing and embedding vocational skills by creating tools and resources for use in Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision. Alongside his role as Employability Coordinator, David is an advocate of utilising Skills Competitions for learners with ALN, creating opportunities for them to showcase their talents. David coordinates Pembrokeshire College’s entries into inclusive/foundation skills competitions and leads on a first of its kind ‘Life Skills’ competition.
Fellows are now expected to develop knowledge transfer and exchange activities, sharing effective practice at national and regional conferences and via networks, facilitating CPD and contributing to thought leadership through an established technical community of practice. They will also contribute to a final report to engage and motivate technical education practitioners in their specialist subject areas. Each receives a financial award to support their activity, guaranteed remission time and is allocated a mentor to support them for the duration of the programme.
John Lavery, Secretary of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, said:
“The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 congratulates all the new Technical Teaching Fellows and is thrilled to welcome them to the 1851 community. The work they will undertake within the Further Education environment is hugely important and the awards recognise the incredibly high teaching standards and example that they demand, and deliver, of themselves. The Royal Commission is thrilled that the 1851 Technical Teaching programme has proved so successful and is delighted to work in collaboration with the Education and Training Foundation to deliver this newly expanded initiative”.
Dr Katerina Kolyva, CEO of the Education and Training Foundation, added:
“Our congratulations go to the recipients of the 2024/25 Technical Teaching Fellowships. These awards recognise leading lights in technical education and support them to effectively share and extend the reach of their practice. We look forward to seeing them follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, developing the capability of technical teaching across the UK. In doing so, they will help to foster the skills required to address the profound technical, economic and sustainability changes society faces.”
For further details of the Technical Teaching Fellowships, please visit the ETF website www.et-foundation.co.uk/
